A1b,
I know you're a real F-35 enthusiast, but I do think you have LO's position completely wrong. He is not 'anti' everything to do with F-35, he simply questions the wild claims made about it, some of the appalling politics behind it and the cost vs what we're going to get. He also corrects those that come here shouting its praises with no regard for the consequences of how it will perform out there in the big, bad, nasty world.
Sorry, LO, if I assume too much.
Technically, airborne lasers are a possibility, but the space, weight, power, heat, pointing issues are very different to those on a ship. Both platforms will always suffer from atmospheric influences, which severely degrade range and effect - there are counters to distortion, but again that's more space, weight and power.
Of course, all that depends on whether you wish to target the hardware, the soft target inside it or the EO sensors. The last point there raises vulnerability issues for the DAS. As ever, these swords have two edges.